Breathing Paradox
by xPhineasx
Summary: Gohan has a crooked smile; Vegeta a crooked heart. It could have been, but wasn't. A Paradox. Vegeta/Gohan


So, I've really liked Vegeta/Gohan ever since I started re-watching DBZ last year and got to the Freiza Saga. It's a really interesting pair for me. They are both such horribly different people. Gohan is pure and unambitious and kind and goofy. Vegeta is proud and arrogant and stern. There's something about them, how different they are, that makes me really want to see them together, but as I was writing this I realized that I don't think either of them could break from their canon relationships. So I left it at a tragic loose end. There may be a sequel someday, but don't count on it.

* * *

Gohan has a crooked smile, but his heart is pure. He wears T-shirts and jeans, unlaced tennis shoes and baseball caps like the perfect human boy. Power flows from him in legendary magnitude. He is a contradiction, an enigma, a breathing paradox.

Vegeta has a crooked heart, warped by time and contradicting life experience. Frozen and thawed a dozen times, it's rare that he understands what he wants, or if what he wants will make him happy. He is a prince without a kingdom, a breathing paradox in his own way.

After his father left, Gohan came around more often wanting to train, to sweat, to escape his human life for an hour or two, fist to fist with the Prince of his forefathers. Of course he loved the human girl and their child, but he needed some time to decompress. Being human was hard. He was the hero who beat Cell, who faced Buu, who trained with the Old Kai. He needed to let his power out. Vegeta was willing to force it out of him.

Fist to fist, for a year the two would meet once a week to train, to beat the loneliness of being warriors in a time of peace into dust. Gohan loved peace, and he fought for it, but Videl could no longer fight crime with him, and he needed more of a challenge in his life. Vegeta hated it all together, this life without a purpose. Kararrot was gone, and in the the shadow of their loss, Goku's Rival and Eldest Son pushed each other to their limits.

Every now and then they would find themselves pausing. Gohan would grab Vegeta's wrist to block a punch and they would freeze. Their thighs would brush mid-kick and the concentration would be broken. Why? Neither knew, and neither asked.

It was the middle of summer and the sun was high in the sky as Gohan and Vegeta dueled on a desert plateau hours from the nearest city. Gohan was pushed flat on his back by a blast, and Vegeta lunged on top of him. His fist, radiating gold, sunk into the rock next to Gohan's head. They both stilled, panting hard. Dropping out of Super Saiyan, the two stared at each other, faces a foot apart. It was over, and Vegeta had won this round. They didn't move. Something strange and electric was flowing between them where they touched, stronger than anything they had felt before. Suddenly that foot that separated their lips was half a foot, and then 3 inches and then...They separated quickly and went home without a word, shaken and confused.

Gohan didn't show up to train the next week, or the week after, or the week after. Vegeta tried to convince himself that this didn't bother him. The boy was a nuisance anyway. He had his own problems. He didn't have time to think about Gohan. He did anyway.

Vegeta wasn't sleeping when he heard the tap on the kitchen window around midnight. Gohan's energy was filling the room, more soothing than it should have been. Vegeta walked over to the window and opened it, scowling. "What do you want, brat?" He scoffed in a hushed tone, not wanting to wake Bulma in the next room. Gohan was perched on the window sill, resting on his haunches, making him a good 2 feet taller than Vegeta. Without a word he readjusted himself, sitting on the widow, his legs now inside the house. He seemed distracted and nervous. "Gohan?" Vegeta said, looking up at the boy, who was still a good 6 inches above him.

Gohan looked at him when his name was called, a red flush on his cheeks, his mouth dry. Before Vegeta could react, Gohan had grabbed a fistful of hair and pulled his chin up and into a kiss. Yes. A kiss. Their lips pressed together, full of fear and frustration and confusion. Slowly their lips parted and they began to taste each other. Vegeta steadied himself, placing his hands on the side of the window as he was pulled fully between Gohan's legs. This wasn't like kissing Bulma or Videl, full of romance and responsibility. This was carnal, instinctual, communal. Gohan's nails dug into Vegeta's scalp; Vegeta's teeth digging into Gohan's lip. Time had slowed down.

A glass smashed behind them. Time resumed at it's normal pace. Vegeta pulled himself away, spinning around to face Bulma. Gohan had frozen. Bulma stared, mouth open, an empty glass, intended for water, lay broken on the tiles. "Vegeta?" She whispered. Vegeta turned to look at Gohan, but the boy was gone, disappeared into the night without a word. Vegeta was left alone to try and explain himself.

The next time Vegeta saw Goku's son it was at a World Martial arts tournament a year later. Trunks, Goten and Pan were competing. Gohan and Vegeta were there to watch. They made eye contact ( awkward), and looked away. Gohan was holding Videl's hand tightly, and Vegeta could feel Bulma's stare.

Gohan had a crooked smile. Vegeta had a crooked heart.

But it was left at a loose end.

It could have been.

But wasn't.

A Paradox.


End file.
